Justin Leung Mr. Cohn Essays - Physical Geography, Climatology

Justin Leung Mr. Cohn 5/25/17 Earth Science Environmental Effects of Global Warming: In order to talk about global warming, we must first learn what causes the greenhouse effect. A lot of the rays from the sun are absorbed by water vapor that is naturally in our atmosphere. Water vapor accounts for 80 percent of natural greenhouse warming. The remaining 20 percent is due to other gasses that are present in very small amounts. Carbon dioxide is also a big absorber of the sun's heat rays. Global warming will not just make sea levels rise, it will also affect sea life. Corals are intolerant of temperatures just a few degrees warmer than usual. Small increases in the temperature can kill corals. There have been problems with corals dying in the past few years because of increased water temperatures. Other marine life may migrate northward or southward because the waters are warmer. The warm water would make them think that they were in their natural habitat, when they were actually migrating toward the poles. Food would be scarce in their new habitat.Patterns of the c irculation of seawater are disturbed by global warming. Cold water moves along the sea floor towards the equator and warm water around the equator moves toward the poles across the surface of the ocean. It is known as thermohaline circulation. It is a very important process concerning ocean life. This circulation process brings oxygenated water to the sea floor. If this did not happen, Water along the sea floor would become depleted of the oxygen organisms need to survive.Fish, such as salmon, are also sensitive to the temperature of the water. During the summer when the water is warm, salmon have a higher metabolic rate. During the winter months, their metabolism slows down, which is good because less food is available. With global warming and increased water temperatures, salmon would have a higher metabolic rate, even if it were during the winter. Less food would be available for them and many salmon would die. Another impact of global warming will be that some diseases are likel y to be spread more easily. Mosquitoes are a major carrier of tropical diseases. Malaria outbreaks are usually confined to where the minimum winter temperature reaches no lower than 16 [degrees Celsius], according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, an independent conservation organization. Scientists are beginning to notice that malaria outbreaks are occurring outside these places. They are attributing this to increased temperatures from global warming. Places such as California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New York have had more cases of malaria. People from these states know that the summers have been very hot and humid lately. Malaria mosquitoes thrive in hot and humid weather. Increased temperatures and more rain in some areas will cause hot and humid weather, which will allow for mosquitoes to migrate to new places and spread the disease. A study suggests that malaria transmission would increase from 45% of the globe to 60%, if atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases reach con centrations equivalent to a doubling of CO2 since the industrial revolution1. Cholera and dengue fever are also carried by mosquitoes and thrive in warm and moist climates. As with malaria, more cholera and dengue fever outbreaks would occur because of migrating mosquitoes. As stated earlier, the warming of the oceans will increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and will make global warming a problem of increasing severity. There are other ways that this happens too. As the weather becomes warmer, more organic matter in the ground will be decomposed. This causes carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere: If average temperatures would rise by .3 degrees C per decade, soils will release an amount of CO2 equal to nearly 20 percent of the projected amount released by combustion of fossil fuels. Gas hydrates will also decompose with warmer temperatures. Gas hydrates are icelike solids in which molecules of gas, mainly methane, are locked in the structure of water and are usually found in frozen soil or in ocean sediments. Scientists have found that gas hydrates worldwide hold a total of 10,000 billion metric tons of carbon, twice the amount contained in all the known coal,

Five Tips for Writing a Travel Series

Five Tips for Writing a Travel Series Travel writing is considered one of the more glamorous writing gigs. After all, what could be better than getting paid to travel? While the reality is a bit more mundane (generally low pay, tight deadlines, viciously competitive markets) it’s still a load of fun. With the advent of travel blogs, more and more writers are expanding their experiences from single features to longer series. This allows you to focus on various aspects of a destination in different posts and tell a longer story arc. Here are five tips to writing an online travel series. These also work well for print features. 1. You don’t have to start at the beginning: While your journey has a beginning, middle, and end, you aren’t writing a novel. You don’t have to open your series with your arrival. This is usually your worst part of the trip anyway, so why inflict it on your reader? Instead, draw them in with a scene that brings the destination to life, such as when Rolf Potts started his series about going on a Star Trek cruise with the moment everyone discovered he wasn’t a fan of the show. Very rarely are the beginnings of a journey exciting, although my ten-hour drive across the desert to Somaliland made for a good opener. That time, and that time only, the start had excitement, color, vivid experiences, and a bit of danger. The rest of my trips have opened with me jetlagged and grumpy at some foreign airport. 2. Don’t forget that what’s normal to you is new to your reader: As we get accustomed to a new place, we begin to forget the little details that make for a great story. The best photo I never took in Iraq was of my driver eating hummus at a roadside restaurant as a sheep watched him from just outside the window. When I saw this I smiled and thought, â€Å"Appetizer and main course!† What I should have done was take a picture. That juxtaposition wasn’t unusual for me anymore, but I bet my readers would have gotten a good laugh out of it. Well, maybe not the vegetarians. 3. You don’t have to be a good photographer: I’m a mediocre photographer, and yet I’ve sold hundreds of photographs to print and online publications. How? I go to interesting places and take lots of pictures. It’s that simple. 4. Mix short and long pieces: Short, punchy pieces accompanied 5. The story is rarely about you: There are two types of traveler- those who describe the places they’ve been, and those who talk about how they went to a bunch of places. The first person is informative and interesting; the other is a boring braggart. While it’s your journey, you aren’t the most interesting thing about it. The people you meet and the things you see are. Leave yourself out of the picture unless it’s really, truly part of the story. There is very little about me in my series on  living in Harar, Ethiopia. When I visited the little-known Argobba tribe, or interviewed a traditional healer, I let them speak for themselves. In my post about meeting a nine-year-old refugee from Syria, however, my reactions were an important part of the story. A monk examines a medieval illustrated manuscript at his monastery on Lake Tana, Ethiopia. (copyright Sean McLachlan) Marsh Arab children in southern Iraq. (copyright Sean McLachlan)

W.L. Gore Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

W.L. Gore - Assignment Example In this regard, the company manufactures lifesaving cardiovascular equipment and guitar strings. The manufacturing operations of the company are spread across China, Scotland, Germany and Japan. The company is renowned for its innovative fabric known as GORE-TEX that has led to its achievement of over 2,000 patents globally. Its brand is visible in jackets, head ware, boots, gloves, guitar strings and NASA astronauts’ space suites (Gore, 2008). The work ethic of employees is based on lattices that promote direct interaction between associates. Thus the employees transcend to leaders subject to their attributes in attracting followers and gaining the respect of their colleagues (Gore, 2008). Furthermore, each manufacturing plant is allocated a minimum number of associates since it maximizes returns and synergies as well as contributing to the improvement of quality. In addition, the company continuously constructs new manufacturing plants within its area of operations. For example, there are 18 manufacturing plants within a radius of 30 miles in Delaware OF United States (Gore, 2008). In this regard, the employees of Gore have exhibited a positive attitude in their wo rk and increased quality of output. This has led to the company’s success in which it has consistently been listed as among the top 100 companies to work in as an employee. The company is renowned for a structure that goes against the conventional business leadership model in that it employees a structure that is hierarchy free. In this regard, the company has no managers, job titles or descriptions (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2011). The only structure is composed leaders and associates. The company equally does not have any union representation or defined Human Resource procedures or policies. In this regard, the company is not aligned with the standard or conventional Human Resource structure. In addition, the company promotes the philosophy of ‘natural leadership’ in that

Organized Crime Gangs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organized Crime Gangs - Essay Example It is termed as outlaw because such organizations are not registered with the AMA or the American Motorcyclist Association and hence do not adhere to AMA rules and regulations. A new member is admitted after being properly vetted and must swear loyalty to the club. The OMG chosen for this paper is the Bandidos Motorcycle Club that is one percenter- type of club, meaning it essentially considers itself an outlaw organization. It was started by Mr. Don Chambers in San Leon, Texas of the United States of America back in 1966 and has now expanded to several countries worldwide (www.bandidosmc.com, 2014). It is considered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an outlawed motorcycle gang as it engages in organized crime activities such as dealing in illegal drugs to raise additional funds in additional to members contributions, fees, and dues. It has 90 chapters in the U.S.A., another 90 in Europe, and still 17 chapters in Australia; in total, its members reach an estimated 2,400 people in 210 chapters in 22 countries. The distinguishing patch consists of a cartoon character (side view) wearing the large iconic Mexican hat and carrying both a gun and a sword. They moved later to Corpus Christi, Texas and then still later to Houston, Texas. There is a gang problem in the United States but not of motorcycle gangs; rather problem gangs are real criminals engaged mostly in illegal

Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Public Relations - Essay Example The importance of public relations is necessary in all kinds of organizations as mainly synergy between organizational goals with employees performance is important. Organizations that spend time and money on public relations are deemed to be more successful in the industry (Travis, 2012). There are two mainstream dimensions of public relations; organizational functions and societal functions. The organizational function basically discusses the relationships of employees and stakeholder within the firm. The establishment of systems and frameworks that would assist in the communication of employees and would allow them to bond vividly in the organizational tasks is organizational functions. The societal functions basically discusses that what organization is giving to the society and how is it responding to them. Use of media or any other channel that would address masses is the societal dimension of public relations (Stacks, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to exemplify about public relations and its components. Present precise picture about the proceedings of public relations and how it is benefiting the organizations. Organizational Function The main purpose of organizational functions of public relations remains to enhance the profitability of the organization. The escalation in conventional practices rampant in the organization may affect business negatively therefore improvements in the organizational cultures is of great virtue and magnitude. It is important that there would be no disputes and quarrels among the employees and everybody would work for the enhancement of organizational goals and objectives. ... The organizational function signifies that paramount revenues can be made if there is internal rest in the organization. Multinational organizations tend to work immensely on the organizational functions of public relations as ensuring all employees are on the same page to work is imperative (Smith, 2012). The functions of public relations in the organizations include better communication channel between employees, engaging them in different activities, launching training and development sessions, improve feedback system and gauge leadership too. In Coca cola international, public relations within the organization are taken very seriously. The management has ensured that employees working in different capacities would maintain good public relations. The maintenance of good public relations within and outside organization brings good name for the company and for the person himself. The organizational function of public relations enhances motivation of employees too, if it is implement ed in delegate manner. The feeling of getting importance by the organization is one of the most inspirational feelings that an employee gets. The maintaining of relationships with external bodies by formulating strategic plans is a part of public relations. For instance sustaining and attaining relations with government institutes (Rainey, 2009). Societal Functions The networking and bonding of the organization publically is the societal functions of public relations. Organizations tend to work vigorously on the societal function of public relations to make good name in the general public. Image of the organization contains sheer value and magnitude which cannot be neglected. People tend to talk and converse about the organizations who have poor relations with the general

The Mauritius Institute Of Education On Teachers Education Essay

The Mauritius Institute Of Education On Teachers Education Essay Education has always been among the top priorities of every government into power. In Mauritius, education was declared free after the country gained independence from the British in 1968. Since then, every child of the country had the opportunity to go to school and learn. After the decision of free schooling, the government found the need to train sufficient teachers to work in the schools in regions where there were growing demands. Such training course is still being delivered by the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE), which equip the future teachers with the necessary skills to deliver a quality service. From the beginning of the 21st century much emphasis is put on the quality of teaching and management in schools as it has been proven that schools with strong ethical managing members outperformed other schools in the academic results. It has always been said that Discipline is the key to success; those schools realised it through hard and structured work and achieved the best results. Discipline is not meant for pupils only and applies for teachers and even top management of the schools. Certain schools even set codes of conduct for their teachers to abide too; which provide a clear line of conduct expected from the teachers. These codes of conduct are simply ethics of care, justice, critique, profession and community put into phrases which demonstrate the expected behaviour of top management and teachers of the schools. Review of Literature The significance of school management and leadership There is great concern in educational leadership in the early part of the 21st century. Since people believe that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to school and student outcomes. In many parts of the world, there is recognition that schools require effective leaders and managers if they are to provide the best possible education for their learners. As the global economy gathers pace, more governments are realising that their main assets are their people and that remaining, or becoming, competitive depends increasingly on the development of a highly skilled workforce. This requires trained and committed teachers but they, in turn, need the leadership of highly effective principals and the support of other senior and middle managers (Bush, in press). The process of deciding on the aims of the organization is at the heart of educational management. In most schools, aims are decided by the principal, often working in association with the senior management team and perhaps also with the school governing body. However, school aims are strongly influenced by pressures from the external environment, and particularly from the expectations of government, often expressed through legislation or formal policy statements. Schools may be left with the residual task of interpreting external imperatives rather than determining aims on the basis of their own assessment of learner needs. The key issue here is the extent to which school managers are able to modify government policy and develop alternative approaches based on school-level values and vision. (Bush 2003:1-2). Distinction between school management and leadership The concept of management overlaps with that of leadership, a notion of great contemporary interest in most countries in the developed world. However, despite these developments management remains the dominant term in the debate about aspects of school organisation. Cuban (1988) provides one of the clearest distinctions between leadership and management. He links leadership with change while management is seen as a maintenance activity. He also stresses the importance of both dimensions of organisational activity: By leadership, I mean influencing others actions in achieving desirable ends. Leaders are people who shape the goals, motivations, and actions of others. Frequently they initiate change to reach existing and new goals Leadership takes much ingenuity, energy and skill. Managing is maintaining efficiently and effectively current organisational arrangements. While managing well often exhibits leadership skills, the overall function is toward maintenance rather than change. I prize both managing and leading and attach no special value to either since different settings and times call for varied responses. Day et al.s (2001) study of twelve effective schools leads to the discussion of several dilemmas in school leadership. One of these relates to management, which is linked to systems and paper, and leadership, which is perceived to be about the development of people. Bush (1998; 2003) links leadership to values or purpose while management relates to implementation or technical issues. Leadership and management need to be given equal prominence if schools are to operate effectively and achieve their objectives. Leading and managing are distinct, but both are important The challenge of modern organizations requires the objective perspective of the manager as well as the flashes of vision and commitment wise leadership provides (Bolman Deal, 1997). Leithwood et al. (1999) make the important point that, in practice, principals in their day-to-day work are rarely aware of whether they are leading or managing; they are simply carrying out their work on behalf of the school and its learners. However, the nature of that work should reflect the school context and, in particular, its needs at any one time. Underperforming schools may require a greater emphasis on basic management, making the organization functional, rather than a visionary approach. This may involve ensuring regular and timely attendance by learners and educators, maintaining order and discipline in classrooms, and proving adequate resources to enable learning to take place. Once schools are functional, leaders can progress to developing vision, and outlining clear aims and policies, with the confidence that systems are in place to secure their implementation. Models of educational leadership and management Theories of educational management for over 20 years (Bush, 1986; 1995; 2003) have been presented and classified into six major models: formal, collegial, political, subjective, ambiguity, and cultural (see Table 1). More recently, the author of these theories has reviewed concepts of educational leadership, notably in work undertaken for the English National College for School Leadership (Bush Glover, 2002). The literature on leadership has generated a number of alternative, and competing, models. Some writers have sought to cluster these various conceptions into a number of broad themes or types. The best known of these typologies is that by Leithwood, Jantzi and Steinbach (1999), who identified six models from their scrutiny of 121 articles in four international journals. Bush and Glover (2002) extended this typology to eight models. These are among the nine leadership models shown in Table 1, alongside the management models mentioned earlier. Table : Typology of management and leadership models (Bush, 2003) Management model Leadership model Formal Collegial Political Subjective Ambiguity Cultural Managerial Participative Transformational Interpersonal Transactional Post-modern Contingency Moral Instructional Ethics Ethics refer to accepted norms and standards set by people considering them as good practices that one must follow in terms of behaviour and action. Ethics are frequently interchanged with other words such as values, morality, norms, principles and beliefs. According to Fraenkel (1973: 49), values represent everything that people regard as important in life. They represent ideas on what is good, beautiful, effective and appropriate, . and therefore worth having, worth doing, or worth striving to attain. Ethics and Values Ethical framework for education The literature provides  ¬Ã‚ ve major paradigms used to analyse ethics and ethical dilemmas. Ethic of Justice The first type of ethic is the ethic of justice. This ethic often provides a basis for legal principles and ideals. Here, one may ask questions related to the rule of law and the more abstract concepts of fairness, equity and justice. Starratt (1994) characterizes this ethic as originating in two schools of thought, one focusing on the individual as central and the other stressing society as its key component. The former generally involves the concept of social contract where the individual gives up certain rights for the good of society; it includes the work of earlier philosophers including Hobbes and Kant and more contemporary scholars such as Lawrence Kohlberg and John Rawls. The latter conceptualizes justice as emerging from communal understandings (Starratt, 1994, p. 50). Also writing within this paradigm is Kenneth Strike, a scholar who focuses on justice and its in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence on educational decision making by stressing concepts such as maximum bene ¬Ã‚ ts and its rela tionship to respect for individual needs (Strike et al., 1998). Ethic of care Second is an ethic of care. Out of the ethic of justice, the ethic of care shifts the emphasis on rights and laws to compassion and empathy. When the ethic of care is valued, school leaders emphasize relationships and connections in the decision-making process, rather than techniques and rules associated with a hierarchical approach. Noddings (2003) work is central to this ethic as are the writings of contemporary scholars including Gilligan (1982) who challenged Kohlbergs (1981) model of ethical decision making as relates to women and Sernak (1998) who contends that school leaders must balance power with caring. Ethic of Critique Critique is the third ethic. Firmly rooted in critical theory, the ethic of critique seeks to challenge the status quo and give voice to the marginalized sectors of society. Under the ethic of critique, theorists such as Apple (2000, 2001, 2003), Capper (1993), Foster (1986) and Giroux (1991, 2000, 2003), among others, ask us to not only rethink laws and justice, but also consider other concepts such as privilege, power, culture and language. Here, one might question who makes the laws, who bene ¬Ã‚ ts from them, and how they apply to a variety of different people. Grogan (2003) and Marshall et al. (1989) join the ranks of these contemporary scholars who urge educators to consider issues of social justice in their ethical decision making. Ethic of the profession The ethic of the profession (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2001) calls for school leaders to consider professional and personal ethical principles and codes, as well as standards of the profession and individual professional codes to create a dynamic model that places the best interests of the student as central. This paradigm considers the other frameworks as well as issues such as what the profession expects, what happens when personal and professional ethics clash, and how community in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uences educators ethical decision making. This paradigm of the profession moves beyond a multi-paradigmatic approach and strives to consider moral aspects unique to the profession and the questions that arise as educational leaders become more aware of their own personal and professional codes of ethics (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2001, p. 18). As Walker (1998, p. 300) points out: The well-considered shibboleth that the best interests of children will be taken to override con ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡icting inter ests may be considered both a safe and essential grounds for educational decision making. Ethic of the Community Furman (2003) proposes a  ¬Ã‚ fth ethic for educational leaders that of community. Furman (2004) explicates this ethical posture in an article appearing in this issue of the Journal of Educational Administration. For Furman, community becomes the context within which the other ethical postures are applied as school leaders make decisions in an ever-changing environment. She de ¬Ã‚ nes the ethic of community as the moral responsibility of educators to engage in communal processes. Here, the communal, rather than the individual, is the major focus of schools moral agency. This ethic is very different from Sergiovanni (1994) who views community as an entity and Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001) who see community in relation to the individual. Each of these  ¬Ã‚ ve paradigms is important to educational leaders who are asked to make ethical decisions. By considering the paradigms as complementary parts of a whole, the school leader has access to a more advanced set of tools for decision making. Ethics in School Management and Leadership For a better understanding of the impact of ethics in school management and leadership, a framework would be much appropriate. In their book, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education, Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001) propose a framework for responding to ethical dilemmas. Ethical paradigms based on models of justice, caring, and critique are merged into a fourth paradigm, that of the profession. At the centre of this conceptualization is the best interests of the student. Educators have often used this concept to justify important moral and ethical decisions; therefore it seems apt that this concept would lie at the heart of a professional paradigm. Application of Ethics in School Management and Leadership The point that school administrative decision making requires more than the mechanical application of existing rules, regulations and various levels of school and school-related policy has been well established (Hoy and Miskel, 2005). The essential aspects of school leadership are more than simply possessing and carrying out certain technical skills to ensure effective and ef ¬Ã‚ cient management of organizational operations (Sergiovanni, 2009). The emphasis and preoccupation with bureaucratic scientism and management perspectives has given way to the importance of value, moral, and ethical bases for educational leadership decision making. There is an increasing recognition that putatively value free administrative decisions and actions are actually value-laden, even value-saturated enterprises(s) (Hodgkinson, 1978, p.122) that undergird our understanding of what Green ¬Ã‚ eld (1985, 1999), and others (Green, 1990) have articulated in more precise terms as the careful location of purpose and worth in things, or in other words moral education and moral leadership. This recognition of value-driven, moral leadership action, according to Hodgkinson (1978), is an administrative logic of a new order. The Ethic of the Profession and the Model for Promoting Students Best Interests (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2001, 2005; Stefkovich, 2006), recognizes moral aspects unique to the profession that are primarily client-based and highlights the inevitable internal struggle experienced by school leaders due to a wide variety of considerations and factors that seek to inform and in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence their moral practice as school leaders. This existential struggle can be characterized as a phenomenon of intrapersonal moral discord experienced as part of the process of deciding ethically when faced with dif ¬Ã‚ cult moral choices centered on personal versus organizational and/or professional value discrepancy, described as a clashing of codes within the framework. The professional ethic recognizes moral aspects unique to the profession of educational leadership and grounds the moral dimension of the profession on the monothetic injunction to serve the best interests of the student (Shapiro and Stefkovich, 2001, p.23) whereby promoting the success of all students (ISLLC, 1996, p. 8) by focusing on the needs of children (Walker, 1998).

Three Different Types of Human Memory Essay example -- Human Mind, Bra

"Memory is the diary we all carry about with us," Oscar Wilde once said. Now for a second imagine a life without any memories! One wouldn't be able to remember his/her name, how to look after themselves or to even recognize their own friends and family. It would be impossible to live happily without ones memories. That is why our memories are such vital points in our lives. They are the building blocks of our current selves. Due to those reasons it is very useful to find as much information regarding it as possible. For that very purpose this research paper has been written. The purpose of this research is to uncover the truth regarding how the human brain stores and retrieve memories. Throughout this research, topics such as definition of memory, types of memory, diseases resulting in difficulties with memory, as well as the most known phenomena dà ©jà  vu which is caused by a certain type of memory process will be discussed. The word memory can be defined in many ways depending on the field that the term memory is used in. To start of, the most commonly used definition for the term memory is the name given to the human’s ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently recall information and past experiences in the brain. It is a sum of what we remember in total and it enables us to learn and adapt from previous experiences and to build relationships. Etymologically, the modern English word memory has originated from the passed down Latin word memoria and memor which means mindful and remembering. In neurological and psychological terms memory is simply classified as a set of encoded neural connections in the brain. Since the development of the computer in the 1940s, the word memory is also used to describe the ability of a compu... ...althcommunities.com/parkinsons-disease/symptoms.shtml Mastin (2010). The Human Memory. Retrieved January 26, 2014, from http://www.human-memory.net/types.html Memory of Time May Be Factor in Parkinson's (vol.21). (1996). Retrieved from Columbia University Record website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss22/record2122.15.html University of Toronto (2004, May 7). Scientists Uncover How Brain Retrieves And Stores Older Memories. Science Daily. What makes the human brain unique? (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2014, from http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/WhoAmI/FindOutMore/Yourbrain/Howdoesyourbrainwork/Whatarethepartsofyourbrain/Whatmakesthehumanbrainunique.aspx When deja vu is more than just an odd feeling. (2006, February 13). Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=2c4f7afd-5a3a-4e52-a2fb-bc729692bfb4&k=48785

How is the theme of evil dramatized in Macbeth? Essay

In Elizabethan times everyone believed in the Natural Order which can also be referred to as The Chain of Being. The Chain of Being is a hierarchy, where God is at the top and the King is second, last are the elements; fire, air, water and earth. If something happened to the king everything under the king’s rank would be affected. This stopped people overthrowing the king because they were told bad things would happen to them. We can tell that the Chain of Being was affected in Macbeth because of what some of the characters say in Act 2 Scene 4 after King Duncan has been murdered. â€Å"A falcon tow’ring in her pride of her place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed† This shows an image of a mouse hunting an owl and killing it which is the reverse of what happens under normal circumstances. Animals are under the king’s rank. The horses also turn to cannibalism, â€Å"And Duncan’s horses†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"’tis said they eat each othe r.† Treason is the illegal act of overthrowing the government or king. Macbeth manages to overthrow King Duncan, which is treason, and at the end of the play Macbeth gets overthrown by Macduff. Just a few years before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, Guy Fawkes attempted to overthrow King James I. Treason involves people at lower ranks of the Chain of Being moving up the chain, which will include killing and murdering, which are evil acts. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth for King James I, who had just been crowned, to warn him about the revolution that was about to take place. In Act 1 Scene 3 the opening establishes the witches as evil. They act haphazardly and randomly. There words â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair†, is chanted in a mischievous way. It implies the witches believe that evil is good and they find good repulsive. Not only does this portray their attitude to life but it is also a warning to the audience that there is much confusion and things are not what they may seem to be. Macbeth is also heard to utter these words and show that he is influenced by the witches. In Elizabethan times, witches were usually women rejected by society and represent evil. In the play they have a great influence over Macbeth and intend to involve him in their evil, â€Å"There to meet with Macbeth.† Evil is created around the witches because the witches are instantly thought to be dark and to have a connection with the devil. The feeling of evil is made stronger because the witches meet in lifeless dark places away from society. In Act 1 Scene 1 the witches meet in a desolate place and in Act 1 Scene 3 they meet on a heath. This creates an eerie feeling. The weather reflects the witches’s emotions and in the four witch scenes there is thunder. All this emphasizes their destructive nature. The witches also do not look human. They are supposed to be women but they are bearded. â€Å"You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret † Anyone who does not look ‘normal’ or human may have evil links. In some productions of Macbeth, the witches come across as alien, which can be evil as it’s not the norm. In one film production the witches are naked. It is a human trait to cover up with clothes. When asked where the second witch has been she replies â€Å"killing swine† which shows cruelty for her own amusement. The curses they chant are to cause pain upon others which reflects their own evil behaviour â€Å"sleep shall neither night or day† – the first witch causes insomnia upon Macbeth. In Act 4 Scene 1 the witches used black magic which involves adding ingredients to a cauldron. They use the image of innocence by adding a â€Å"finger of a birth strangled babe† which shows new life destroyed. Many people would say this is evil. ‘That look not like†¦.’ this, said by Banquo, shows us that he fears the witches and is unsure if they are real, on the other hand he confidently asks ‘What are you’, suggesting that he may know of the witches, or even be friendly with them. Although this also has the possibility of being interpreted as Macbeth seeing the witches as unnatural and evil for he does ask about what they are. Macbeth can be considered as being an evil character in that he kills King Duncan in cold blood by stabbing him. It is premeditated as indicated in the soliloquy of his inner thoughts. â€Å"We’d jump the life to come, but in these cases, we still have judgment here.† It also shows selfishness, ambition and self gain for the King’s position. In suspecting his close friend Banquo may want to turn Macbeth in for his crime, â€Å"Wisdom that doth guide his valor†¦to act in safety.† Macbeth knows he must get rid of Banquo and his manipulating character by convincing the murderers and himself that killing him is right. â€Å"Both of you know Banquo was your enemy†¦so he is mine; and it such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life.† He portrays evil in that he is plotting a murder against his friend and influencing others in believing that they are doing the right act in killing him. Others may consider Macbeth to be more of a strong warrior than evil. He goes beyond the limits of a solider in battle for his king and country. Therefore he can be seen as an honorable man â€Å"What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won†. Lady Macbeth describes him as having â€Å"Too full o’th’milk of human kindness†, a humanity. Macbeth can be seen as corruptible for ambition but lacking the ruthlessness to get what he really wants. He is a complex character – he has aggression and determination which makes him a successful warrior. However he also has a conscience with a sense of guilt. These contrasts in Macbeth’s character and his attempts to fix them are what make him human. â€Å"Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips†. This shows Macbeth to be a reluctant murderer; he is troubled by his conscience even before committing the act. He uses the soliloquy to express his struggle between right and wro ng. Macbeth constantly questions his brutality and his inability to live with himself as a murderer. â€Å"This is a sorry sight†. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth appears to be a kind, caring wife to Macbeth but underneath that â€Å"innocent flower† there is a â€Å"serpent†, a scheming and manipulative woman. â€Å"Look like th’flower but be the serpent under’t†. When Lady Macbeth finds out about the witches her determined ambition and her cold nature leads Macbeth astray. Lady Macbeth is so determined to succeed that she calls to the evil spirits to make herself more evil, â€Å"fill me from crown to the toe-top, full of the direst cruelty! Make thick my blood.† On the other hand Lady Macbeth can be seen to be a lonely and frustrated character. She is an ambitious woman in a man’s world where the men have all the power and control. She is often portrayed as being on her own, for instance when reading the letter as Macbeth is at battle and she misses him. She has a driven will with much energy and very little to do. She shows vulnerability and an inwards sense of horror at what she has done but at the same time she is denying these qualities incase she shows a weakness. â€Å"These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so it will make us mad.† In her sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth’s conscience tortures her and she imagines her hands covered in blood. â€Å"The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’that my Lord, no more o’that.† She committed suicide. In conclusion I feel that Shakespeare’s message to his audience is that revolution should be created slowly as the characters at the top of the Chain of Being are not sympathetic to others. This was one of his strong beliefs as Shakespeare was a secret Catholic who supported the pope and was a sympathizer to Guy Fawkes. He also tells the audience that committing evil acts and affecting the Chain of Being ends up corrupting the system. If you are one of the people who committed the acts then, Shakespeare tells us it is hard to clear a guilty conscience. In Macbeth’s search for power, he ends up killing Duncan which leads to several more murders. He started off by being known as â€Å"Brave Macbeth† but once the king was murdered he was corrupted by power. He was defeated by his constant search for more authority and control. Macbeth was only meant to be Thane Of Cawdor and when he managed to become king, he abused his power. Shakespeare’s sends us the message that some people were made to have more control because they could handle it and had the personality trait to control themselves with the amount of power they have. He also sends us the message that too much power corrupts. Many people would say that ambition in the key to success but in Macbeth it is a downfall. Macbeth has the three witches and Lady Macbeth constantly pushing his ambition. Shakespeare gives us that message that having ambition is good but you should go out of your own ability because it may lead to your death, like Macbeth. The relationship between good and evil is very clear to see. The main theme of the play is showing the audience how an honest, regular man can be changed into evil and be dehumanized. He is not evil but instead is surrounded by evil influences such as his wife and the witches. However, goodness does win as Macbeth is killed and the evil dies away with him.

Dividend Policy & Capital Structure

â€Å"Comparative Analysis of Dividend Policy & Capital Structure† Prepared For: Lutfur Rahman Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, East West University. Course Code: FIN-435 Course Title: Managerial Finance Prepared By: Md. Habibur Rahman Utpal Kumar Ghosh ID: 2006-2-10-175 ID: 2006-2-10-179 Date of Submission: August 11, 2009 East West University 43, Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212 Introduction ? ? Origin of the Report: Mr. Lutfur Rahman, Senior Lecturer, East West University, has assigned this report to us, as this report is a requirement of the course â€Å"Managerial Finance†. Objectives of the Report: The broad objective of the report is to build a strong familiarity about the Dividend policy & Capital Structure to measure the performance of the company. By preparing this report we are trying to acquaintance of the overall dividend policy & capital Structuring. Moreover the superficial objective of the report is to acquire knowledge about the insights of interpreting the ratios. Preparing this report such kind of topic is extremely beneficial for us as the students of finance. Scope of the Report: This report is based on the dividend policy & capital Structuring. Through this report we are try to focus on the area related to the financial performance of the companies. We particularly focus on dividend policy & capital Structuring and related ratios; as those are the major indicator of the performance assessment of a firm. Methodology: For execution of the report we use MS office software. Topic of the report is not permitting us to input data from primary sources. As the report must be factual, the data source of this report is basically secondary sources. We gathered our relevant data from the different periodicals published by the two cement companies. We also collect our relevant information from different books as well. We also collected some data from the internet to broaden our scope of analysis. Dhaka Stock Exchange websites, Meghna Cements mills website, Confidence Cement Ltd, websites are few of them. Limitations: †¢ Inadequate knowledge in studying reports. †¢ Lack of in-depth understanding of certain terms and concepts prevented us from going into details. †¢ Lacks of research. †¢ Unavailability of updated data. †¢ Time limitation is also been there. †¢ Lack of information and coordination. Confidentiality of data was another imperative barrier that was faced during the conduct of this study. †¢ Power Crisis. ? ? ? 2|Page Dividend Policy ? Dividend: Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholders. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business (called retained earnings), or it can be paid to the shareholders as a dividend. Many corporations retain a portion of their earnings and pay the remainder as a dividend. For a joint stock company, a dividend is allocated fast as a fixed amount per share. Therefore, a shareholder receives a dividend in proportion to their shareholding. For the joint stock company, paying dividends is not an expense; rather, it is the division of an asset among shareholders. Public companies usually pay dividends on a fixed schedule, but may declare a dividend at any time, sometimes called a special dividend to distinguish it from a regular one. Cooperatives, on the other hand, allocate dividends according to members' activity, so their dividends are often considered to e a pre-tax expense. Dividends are usually settled on a cash basis, as a payment from the company to the shareholder. They can take other forms, such as store credits (common among retail consumers' cooperatives) and shares in the company (either newly-created shares or existing shares bought in the market. ) Further, many public companies offer dividend reinvestment plans, which automatically use the c ash dividend to purchase additional shares for the shareholder. ? Forms of Payments: ? Cash dividends (most common) are those paid out in the form of a check. Such dividends are a form of investment income and are usually taxable to the recipient in the year they are paid. This is the most common method of sharing corporate profits with the shareholders of the company. For each share owned, a declared amount of money is distributed. Thus, if a person owns 100 shares and the cash dividend is $0. 50 per share, the person will be issued a check for 50 dollars. ? Stock dividends are those paid out in form of additional stock shares of the issuing corporation, or other corporation (such as its subsidiary corporation). They are usually issued in proportion to shares owned (for example, for every 100 shares of stock owned, 5% stock dividend will yield 5 extra shares). If this payment involves the issue of new shares, this is very similar to a stock split in that it increases the total number of shares while lowering the price of each share and does not change the market capitalization or the total value of the shares held. ? Property dividends are those paid out in the form of assets from the issuing corporation or another corporation, such as a subsidiary corporation. They are relatively rare and most frequently are securities of other companies owned by the issuer, however they can take other forms, such as products and services. ? Other dividends can be used in structured finance. Financial assets with a known market value can be distributed as dividends; warrants are sometimes distributed in this way. For large companies with subsidiaries, dividends can take the form of shares in a subsidiary company. A common technique for â€Å"spinning off† a company from its parent is to distribute shares in the new company to the old company's shareholders. The new shares can then be traded independently. |Page ? Types of Dividend Policies: ? Constant-Payout-Ratio Dividend Policy: A dividend policy based on the payment of a certain percentage of earnings to owners in each dividend period. ? Regular Dividend Policy: A dividend policy based on the payment of a fixed-dollar dividend in each period. Often firm that use this policy increase the regular d ividend once a proven increase in earning has occurred. ? Low-Regular-and-Extra Dividend Policy: A dividend based on paying a low regular dividend, supplemented by an additional dividend when earnings are higher than normal in a given period. Argument for Dividend Relevance : Gittman (10th edition) divided stock into two types, such as common stock and preferred stock. He also showed that dividends are the outcome of investment. So, common stocks are an ownership claim against primarily real or productive asset (Higgins, 1995), but he also said that if the company prospers, stockholders are the chief beneficiaries, if it falters, they arc the chief losers. Smith (1988) presented that stocks arc one of the most popular forms of investment. People buy stocks for various reasons: Some are interested in the long-term growth of their investment by buying low priced stock of a new company in the hope of substantially growth of share price over the next few years. Another reason he suggested that in a well established firm stockholders expect the stock growth will be stable over the long run. (Smith. 1988). Stockholders expect dividend but it is not promised (Gitman, 10th edition). Common stocks are hold by true owners of the business. Sometimes they are known as residual owners’ as they receive whatever left after winding up of the company (Gitman, 10th edition; Higgins 1995). Another type of stock is known as publicly owned stock. Common stock owned by a broad group of unrelated investors or institutional investors is called as publicly owned stock. However, all common stock of a firm owned by a small group of investors is denoted as closely owned stock. When all the stock is owned by a single person is known as privately owned stock. Due to the limit of number of share, stock can be classified in to four types. Such as authorize share, outstanding share, treasury stock and issued stock (Gitman, 10th edition). Authorized shares represent the maximum number of shares a firm allows to issue. Outstanding shares are hold by public. Treasury stock is repurchased by firm itself and it is no longer considered as outstanding share. Issued shared are the shares that have been put into circulation. Recently stock repurchase option is very popuLar as it is able to increase stock value by decreasing outstanding stock number (Port. 1976). Port also suggested that firms should avoid issuing stock to pay dividend as they slow down company growth. According to Short and Wclsch (1990), Johns (1998) and Port (1976), a dividend is a usually distributed in cash form to stock holders of a corporation approved by the board of director. It may also include stock dividend or other forms of payment. A stock dividend represents a distribution of additional shares to common stockholders (Higgins, 1995). On the other hand. Ross et al. (2005) divided earnings into two parts; either it is retained or paid as dividend. Whereas Wild et al. (2001), Johns (1998) and Kieso et al. (2004) argued that retained earnings are the primary source of dividend distribution to the stockholder. Dividends are only cash payments regularly made by corporations to their stockholders (Johns, 1998). He also specified that they are decided upon the declaration by the board of the directors and can range from zero to virtually any amount the corporation can afford to pay. 4|Page Jones (2005) said that dividends are the only cash payment a stockholder receives directly from firm and these are the foundation of valuation for common stocks. Stock price response to an unexpected dividend change announcement is related to the dividend preferences of the marginal investor in that firm where other things remaining same (Denis et al. , 1994). In addition, a company. Which changes dividend policy, is expected to xperience upward or downward trends in share returns (Gunasekarage et al. , 2006). They also said that for the initiating firms, the share prices continued to rise even after the initial public offering (IPOs). Higgins (1995) said that if the company will have less money to invest or it will have to raise more money from external sources to make the same investments stockholders cl aim on future cash flow, which reduces share price appreciation. Moreover, during dividend announcement period stock price also fluctuate due to announcement of dividend. Mulugetta et al. 2002) examined the impact of Standard and Poor are ranking changes on stock prices. In addition, Affleck-Graves & Mendenhall (1992) found that stock price reacts after 8 days on average up to 54 days of such earning announcement. With this believe, Hampton (1996) said that value of stock increase by more dividend and share remain undervalued by lower dividend policy. In addition, he also showed that there are two schools of thought regarding with the effect of dividend on stick price, one is dividends do not affect market price and the another one is dividend policies have profound effects on a firm’s position in the stock market. Benartzi et al. (1997), Ofer and Siegel’s (1987) and Bae (1996) found a positive correlation between share price and dividend. Furthermore. Campbell and Shi ller (1988) found a relationship between stock prices, earnings and expected dividends and he drives a conclusion that earnings and dividends is powerful in predicting stock returns over several years. Wilkic analyzed a 76 months share price index and dividend announced. He found a correlation coefficient. Which was under 0. 7 for the period 76 months and he also get that the maximum value of the regression coefficient being reached after 79 months. Moreover. ShilLer (1984. 1989) recommended investors in his study to buy the stocks when price is low relative to dividends and to sell stocks when it is high payoffs. On the other hand to their opinion, Jensen and Johnson (1995) suggested that, dividend cut results reduction in share price. More interesting matter is that if capital markets are perfect, dividends have no influence on the share price (MilLer and Modgliani, 1961). MiLler and ModgLiani (1961) also states that if the market is imperfect, dividend may affect stock price. ? Current Practices of Dividend Policy in Bangladesh: As Bangladesh is a developing country, the corporate culture is growing very slightly in our country. Dividend policy is a major financing decision that involves with the payment to shareholders in return of their investments. Every firm operating in a given industry follows some sort of dividend payment pattern or dividend policy and obviously it is a financial indicator of the firm. Thus, demand of the firm’s share should to some extent. Dependant on the firm’s dividend payment pattern. Many investors like to watch the dividend yield, which is calculated as the annual dividend income per share divided by the current share price. The dividend yield measures the amount of income received in proportion to the share price. If a company has a low dividend yield compared to other companies in its sector, it can mean two things: (1) the share price is high because the market reckons the company has impressive prospects and isn’t overly worried about the company’s dividend payments, or (2) the company is in trouble and cannot afford to pay reasonable dividends. At the same time, however, a high dividend yield can signal a sick company with a depressed share price. Dividend yield is of little importance for growth companies because, retained earnings will be reinvested in expansion opportunities, giving shareholders profits in the form of capital gains. 5|Page MEGHNA CEMENT limited (MCML) ? OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY The Meghna Cement Mills Limited (MCML) was the first undertaking Bashundhara Group in the manufacturing sector. This enterprise produces world-class cement and, as a testimony to this, stands the fact that the concern has been awarded the ISO-9001 certification for sustained quality control effort. The Company markets its cement under the registered trademark of King brand†. ? Basic Information: Market Category: A 400. 0 225. 0 100 2250040 Foreign 0 Public 10 Listing Year:1995 Authorized Capital in BDT (mn) Outstanding Capital in BDT (mn) Face Value Total no. of Securities Share Percentage Sponsor/Director 58 Govt. 0 Institute 32 Graph 1: The Market price of share of MCML in 2008-2009 (Highest Value: 678. 25, Lowest Value: 336. 25) 6|Page ? Dividend Policy Followed By Meghna Cement Ltd: EPS Dividend Payout Cash Ratio 24. 15 279 216% 25. 00 22. 80 348 164 25. 00 7. 37 246 75 25. 00 5. 93 277 54 25. 00 5. 35 352 46 30. 00 65. 6 1502 75 130 13. 12 300. 75 26 Table 1: Financial Data of MCML from 2004-2008 P/E ratio Share Price(MKT. ) Dividend Bonus Share 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 25. 00 25. 00 25. 00 25. 00 30. 00 130 26 Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total Average 11. 57 15. 25 33. 38 46. 71 65. 86 172. 77 34. 554 Interpretation: According to the above information it is visible that the company is following regular dividend policy (according to definition as given above). From 2004-2007 though the profit has increased subsequently but it was not sufficient for payment of dividend at a rate of the preceding years to all share holders of the company. For upholding the benefit and interest of general public the sponsors shareholders/Directors have decided to give up their dividend during those years under review of maintaining 31 consistent dividend policy for the 30 general public shareholders. So the 29 board of directors of the company 28 pleased to recommend cash dividend 27 26 @ 25% on par value of shares for the 25 public share holders taking into 24 consideration the profit and liquidity 23 position of the company during that 22 period under reviewed. 004 2005 2006 2007 2008 But In 2008, the EPS increased by almost Total Dividend 25 25 25 25 30 Paid 50% from previous year. So the directors ? Dividend decided to increase the dividend percentage to 30% instead of 25%. The company paid 25tk per share as dividend from 2004-2007 but in 2008 as the income increased by almost 50% than the previous year it paid a dividend of 30tk for the earnings of 2008. Total Dividend Paid Share Price(MKT. ) 400 350 Share Price (MKT. ) 300 250 20 0 The dividend policy that followed by the company has an impact on its share price. 150 As the graph shows the share price has 100 an increasing trend. As the company 50 declared 25% dividend per share from 0 2004-2005 this was more than its EPS so 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 the share price increased and reached to Share Price(MKT. ) 279 348 246 277 352 350tk. But in 2006- 2007 the dividend was lower than its EPS so the share price declined and again increased in 2008 with an increase in dividend. 7|Page Confidence Cement Limited (CCL) ? OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANIES Confidence Cement Limited is the first private sector cement manufacturing company in Bangladesh established in early 90's with having 4,80,000 M/T annual production capacity at Chittagong, 16 K. M away from Chittagong port, besides Dhaka Chittagong highway. CCL is the first ISO-9002 certified cement manufacturing in Bangladesh. It has a unique management system in quality Assurance, Marketing, Sales, and Procurements. It manufactures ordinary Portland cement. Our company aims to be the number one cement manufacturing company in Bangladesh, through continuous development and by producing high & consistent quality cement to meet all customers requirement at all time. To achieve these objectives CCL uses modern machineries, calibrated testing equipment's, computerized packing & raw materials mixing devices in its production process. Additionally the company frequently arranges internal & external training program for the staff of all level to develop the potentiality and skill of its human resources. CCL is always keen to keep the customers satisfied by proving the best possible service. ? Basic Information: Market Category: A 500. 0 209. 0 100 2090000 Govt. 0 Institute 25. 37 Foreign 0 Public 49. 17 Sponsor/Director 25. 46 Listing Year:1995 Authorized Capital in BDT (mn) Outstanding Capital in BDT (mn) Face Value Total no. of Securities Share Percentage Graph 2: The Market price of share of MCML in 2008-2009 (Highest Value: 627. 25, Lowest Value: 268. 5) 8|Page ? Dividend Policy Followed By Confidence Cement Ltd: Earnings per share -12. 65 10. 95 21. 65 27. 73 -14. 98 Diluted Earnings per share n/a n/a n/a n/a -13. 62 Net Asset Value Per Share 319. 83 326. 28 332. 93 345. 66 330. 67 Diluted Net Asset Value Per Share n/a n/a n/a n/a 300. 62 Net Profit After Tax (mn) -24. 04 20. 81 41. 13 52. 8 -28. 46 Year End P/E -9. 50 10. 78 6. 40 13. 30 n/a % Dividend % Dividend Payout Ratio 46% 69% 54% Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 5. 00 5. 00 15. 00 15. 00 10%B Interpretation From the above information it is visible that the company follows the regular dividend policy. That is the policy of the company is to pay a perticular dividend amount and if there’s higher earning for perticular year and if earning pe r share increases they also increase their Dividend amount. In 2004, due to tough competition the company couyld not earn desiered profit. This year EPS is tk(12. 65). However considering the 16 interest of shareholders the board of 14 directors decleared 5% dividend from 12 dividend equalization fund. In 2006 and 10 2007 , as the EPS increases than the 8 previous year so the board of director 6 decided to pay dividend of 15% per 4 share. But in 2008 the company 2 decleared a 10% bonous dividend which indicates the company has used 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 their earnings for farther investment so the company didn’t give any cash % Dividend 5 5 15 15 dividend. Dividend From the graph it is easily indentifiable that the share price had strong relationship with dividend. In 2004 the company decleared a dividend of 5% per share when it had a EPS of (12. 65) the increased. In 2006-2007 for an increased dividend of 15% the share price also maxmized and again declined in 2008 due to 10% Bonous dividend decleared by the company. Share Price (MKT) 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Share Price (MKT) 2004 289 2005 250 2006 225 2007 368. 8 2008 318 9|Page Capital Structure Capital structure refers to the way a corporation finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or hybrid securities. A firm's capital structure is then the composition or ‘structure' of its liabilities. For example, a firm that sells $20 billion in equity and $80 billion in debt is said to be 20% equity-financed and 80% debt-financed. The firm's ratio of debt to total financing, 80% in this example, is referred to as the firm's leverage. In reality, capital structure may be highly complex and include tens of sources. Gearing Ratio is the proportion of the capital employed of the firm which come from outside of the business finance, e. g. by taking a long term loan etc. The Modigliani-Miller theorem, proposed by Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller, forms the basis for modern thinking on capital structure, though it is generally viewed as a purely theoretical result since it assumes away many important factors in the capital structure decision. The theorem states that, in a perfect market, how a firm is financed is irrelevant to its value. This result provides the base with which to examine real world reasons why capital structure is relevant, that is, a company's value is affected by the capital structure it employs. These other reasons include bankruptcy costs, agency costs, taxes, information asymmetry, to name some. This analysis can then be extended to look at whether there is in fact an optimal capital structure: the one which maximizes the value of the firm. 10 | P a g e Capital Structure Meghna Cement Mills LTD. Items Total Current Asset Fixed Asset Total Asset Current Liability Long term Debt Total Debt/ Total Liability Total Equity Share Outstanding Net Income Earnings Before interest and tax Retained Earnings Interest Charges/ Financial Expenses Market Price Per Share Debt to Total Assets Long term Debt ratio = Debt to Equity = Year 2004 1,003,252,653 1,422,581,752 2,500,368,171 952,991,742 923,377,280 1,885,115,488 615,252,683 2,250,040 26,021,799 195,208,573 390,248,683 162,297,008 279 Financial Information Year Year 2005 2006 979,316,891 1,427,560,032 2,406,876,923 970,701,416 812,529,812 1,783,231,228 623,645,695 2,250,040 34,311,762 176,319,775 398,641,695 67,785,759 3 48 2004 75. % 2005 74. 1% 1,189,929,096 1,397,087,008 2,587,016,104 1,197,987,718 718,168,213 1,916,155,931 670,860,173 2,250,040 75,106,875 201,332,892 445,856,173 118,067,797 246 2006 74. 1% Year 2007 1,064,749,181 1,378,737,392 2,443,486,573 1,128,318,964 787,868,674 1,916,187,638 527,298,935 2,250,040 105,096,707 236,610,206 88,286,676 120,127,996 277 2007 78. 4% Year 2008 1,588,397,601 1,307,816,629 2,896,214,230 1,443,833,003 833,152,269 2,277,035,172 619,228,958 2,250,040 148,181,023 278,378,580 57,399,542 99,849,906 352 2008 78. 6% Long Term Debt Solvency 6. 9% 33. 8% 27. 8% 32. 2% 28. 8% 3. 06 2. 86 2. 86 3. 63 3. 68 Times Interest Earned = 1. 20 2. 60 1. 71 1. 97 2. 79 Interpretation: According to the above information we can say that the company has a higher debt in its capital structure. As its Debt/Asset ratio shows from 2004-2008 it has been maintaining almost same amount of debt which is 75% of total assets in its capital structure. It indicates the company is a hi ghly leveraged firm and more risky in terms of debt. According to Long term debt ratio the company maintained a long term debt of around 33% from 2004 – 2008, which also indicates that the company had higher short term debt than it’s long term debt. Time interest earn ratio indicates that the company has enough liquid asset to payback its interest expenses. However Debt/Equity ratio shows the company had a capital structure containing higher debt than its equity. The total debt amount fluctuates throughout this given 5 years but it remains almost three times than its total equity. 11 | P a g e Capital Structure: Confidence Cement Mills LTD. Financial Information Items Year 2004 Year 2005 482627000 570818000 1053645000 429290000 4421000 52985936 433711722 619933000 1900000 20814000 176,319,775 208362754 21573000 250 Year 2006 424937956 580334331 1005272287 362205475 10501799 61807398 372707274 661065000 1900000 41132000 201,332,892 220862754 17559894 225 Year 2007 535307861 564884690 1100192551 413902667 1040702 97073198 414943369 685249000 1900000 52684000 236,610,206 240862754 19968848 368. 8 Year 2008 564074297 590057449 1154131746 525841496 0 58606753 525841496 628290000 1900000 -28459000 278,378,580 221862754 26294826 318 Total Current Asset Fixed Asset Total Asset Current Liability Long term Debt Account Payable/ Trade Creditors Total Debt/ Total Liability Total Equity Share Outstanding Net Income Earnings Before interest and tax Retained Earnings Interest Charges/ Financial Expenses Market Price Per Share 357315000 579526135 936841360 329088697 83293 39197784 329171990 607669370 1900000 -24039000 195,208,573 207412754 25264715 289 12 | P a g e Long Term Debt Solvency Debt to Total Assets = 2004 35. 1% 2005 41. 2% 006 37. 1% 2007 37. 7% 2008 45. 6% Long term Debt ratio = Debt to Equity = 0. 00% 0. 4% 1. 0% .01% 0. 00% 0. 05 0. 02 .02 .01 .01 Times Interest Earned = -1. 951485 -0. 035183 2. 54968 2. 9453453 -2. 0823 Interpretation: According to the above information we can say that the company has a lower debt in its capital structure. As its Debt/Asset ratio shows from 2004-2008 it has been maintaining increasing amount of debt in its capital structure which was 35. 1% in 2004 & reached to45. 5% in 2008. It indicates the company is a moderately levered firm and risky in terms of debt. According to Long term debt ratio the company maintained nonexistence long term debt only 2% in 2006, which also indicates that the company had higher short term debt than it’s long term debt. Time interest earn ratio indicates that the company has did not had enough earning to payback of its interest other than the year of 2006 &2007. However Debt/Equity ratio shows the company had a capital structure containing lower debt than its equity. The total debt amount remained almost constant throughout this given 5 years which is very negligible than its total equity. 13 | P a g e Comparative Analysis 14 | P a g e Divedend Policy Comparative Financial Data Analysis The financial data we gathered to find out the relationship between various variables with price of two different cement companies arc given. We attempted to explore some conclusion on the behavioral pattern of changing the share market price due to dividend, dividend policies followed. The data are extracted from annual reports of two selected companies that are The Meghna Cement Mills Limited (MCML) and Confidence Cement Limited . The annual data of these companies has been taken from the annual reports and other annual publications of Dhaka Stock Exchange. Confidence Cement Ltd Net Net Year % Asset Profit End Dividend Value After P/E Per Tax Share (mn) Meghna Cement Ltd Net Year % Profit End Dividend After P/E Tax (mn) Industry Average Net Year % Profit End Dividend After P/E Tax (mn) Year Earning per share % Dividend Payout Ratio Earning per share Net Asset Value Per Share Dividend Payout Ratio Earning per share Net Asset Value Per Share % Dividend Payout Ratio 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 -12. 65 10. 95 21. 65 27. 73 -14. 98 319. 83 326. 28 332. 93 345. 66 330. 67 24. 04 20. 81 41. 13 52. 68 28. 46 -9. 5 10. 78 6. 4 13. 3 n/a 10%B 5 5 15 15 46% 69% 54% 11. 57 15. 25 33. 38 46. 71 65. 86 273. 44 26. 02 277. 17 34. 31 298. 15 320. 42 275. 20 75. 11 105. 10 148. 18 24 . 21 25. 00 20. 61 25. 00 216% -0. 54 164 13. 1 75 27. 515 54 37. 22 46 25. 44 301. 72 315. 55 333. 04 302. 93 27. 56 58. 12 78. 89 59. 86 15. 69 7. 02 9. 61 5. 35 15 20 20 30 105 72 54 46 296. 63 0. 99 7. 5 15 216 7. 64 5. 92 5. 35 25. 00 25. 00 30. 00 15 | P a g e Interpretation: Earnings Per Share: The industry average of EPS is tk. (. 54), 13. 1, 27. 51, 37. 22, and 25. 44 for the year 2004, 2005,2006,2007,2008 consecutively. In 2004 EPS of Meghna Cement Ltd was 11. 57 & after that EPS has increased and reached up to 65. 86 in 2008, So that, the graph shows that the EPS of Meghna Cement is well above of the industry average EPS. In 2004 EPS of Confidence Cement Ltd was (12. 65) & after that EPS has increased and reached up to 27. 63 in 2007. After that EPS has decreased again and reached to (14. 8)So that, the graph shows that the EPS of Confidence Cement is well below of the industry average EPS. Comperative EPS 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10 -20 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Confidence -12. 65 10. 95 21. 65 27. 73 -14. 98 Cement Ltd Meghna 11. 57 15. 25 33. 38 46. 71 65. 86 Cement Ltd Industry Average -0. 54 13. 1 27. 515 37. 22 25. 44 So, according to our Comparative EPS analysis, we can easily say that Meghna Cement Ltd. is in the best position where Confidence Cement Ltd is the worst position. Price Earnings Ratio: The industry average of P/E ratio is tk. 7. 5, 15. 69, 7. 02, 9. 61, and 5. 5 for the year 2004, 2005,2006,2007,2008 consecutively. In 2004 P/E ratio of Meghna Cement Ltd was 24. 21 & after that P/E has decreased gradually and reached to 5. 35 in 2008, so according to Industry average, the graph shows that the P/E ratio of Meghna Cement is well above up to 2006 of the industry average P/E, then in 2007 it’s ratio falls below the industry average and in 2008 equal to industry average due nonexistence of P/E ratio of Confidence Cement in 2008. Comparative P/E Ratio 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 Confidence Cement Ltd 2004 -9. 5 2005 10. 78 2006 6. 4 7. 64 2007 13. 5. 92 2008 Meghna 24. 21 20. 61 Cement Ltd 5. 35 In 2004 P/E ratio of Confidence Cement Ltd was Industry 7. 35 15. 69 7. 02 9. 61 5. 35 Average (9. 5), after that EPS has increased to 10. 78 in 2005, then again decrease in 2006 and in 2007 it has increased to 13. 3. In 2008 there is no existence of P/E due to no cash dividend declared by the company. So, according to Industry average, the graph shows that the P/E ratio of Confidence Cement is well below up to 2006 of the industry average P/E, then in 2007 its ratio rise above the industry average and in 2008 no P/E as discussed earlier. So, according to our Comparative P/E ratio analysis, we can easily say that Meghna Cement Ltd. is in the best position where Confidence Cement Ltd is the worst position. 16 | P a g e Comparative Dividend Dividend Per Share: The industry average of DPS is tk. 15, 15, 20, 20, and 30 for the year 2004, 2005,2006,2007,2008 consecutively. From 2004 to 2007 DPS of Meghna Cement Ltd was 25 & after that DPS has increased to 30 in 2008 due to extra earning as discussed before. So according to Industry average, the graph shows that the DPS of Meghna Cement is well above up to 2007 of the industry average DPS. In 2008 DPS is equal to industry average due nonexistence of Dividend of Confidence Cement in 2008. 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Confidence Cement Ltd Meghna Cement Ltd Industry Average 2004 5 25 15 2005 5 25 15 2006 15 25 20 2007 15 25 20 2008 30 30 From 2004 to 2005 DPS of Confidence Cement Ltd was 5 & from 2006-2007 DPS has increased to 15 in 2008 due to extra earning as discussed before. So according to Industry average, the graph shows that the DPS of Confidence Cement is well below up to 2007 of the industry average DPS. In 2008 there in no DPS of Confidence Ltd. due nonexistence of Dividend. So, according to our Comparative DPS analysis, we can easily say that Meghna Cement Ltd. is in the best position where Confidence Cement Ltd is the worst position. Dividend Payout Ratio: The industry average of Payout ratio is 216, 105, 72, 54, and 46 for the year 2004, 2005,2006,2007,2008 consecutively. In 2004 Payout ratio of Meghna Cement Ltd was 216 which is equal to the industry average payout ratio because of non existence of payout ratio of Confidence Cement Ltd. in 2004. After that payout ratio has decreased gradually and reached to 46 in 2008, so according to Industry average, the graph shows that the payout ratio of Meghna Cement is equal to the industry average payout ratio in 2004, then it’s ratio rise above the industry average up to 2006 and in the last two years equal to industry average. Compative Payout Ratio Compative Payout Ratio 250 250 200 200 150 150 100 100 50 50 00 Confidence Confidence Cement Ltd Cement Ltd Meghna Meghna 216 216% Cement Ltd Cement Ltd Industry Industry 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 46 46 164 164 69 69 75 75 54 54 54 54 46 46 46 46 16 216 105 105 72 72 54 54 Average Average In 2004 there was no Payout ratio of Confidence Cement Ltd as mentioned earlier. After that payout ratio has increased in 2006 and then again decreased in 2007. In 2008 there is no payout ratio because there is no cash dividend. So according to Industry average, the graph shows that the payout ratio of Confidence Cement i s well below compare to the industry average payout ratio in 2005 & 2006, and then its ratio is equal to the industry average in 2007. In 2008 there is no payout ratio as discussed before. So, according to our Comparative DPS analysis, we can easily say that Meghna Cement Ltd. is in the best position where Confidence Cement Ltd is the worst position. 17 | P a g e Capital Structure Interpretation: Debt/Asset Ratio: The industry average of Debt/Asset Ratio for the year 2008 is 62. 1%. Debt/Asset Ratio of Meghna Cement Ltd is 78. 6% and Confidence Cement Ltd. is 45. 6%. So, according to industry average Confidence Cement is in the best position while Meghna Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Long Term Debt Ratio: The industry average of Long Term Debt Ratio for the year 2008 is 14. %. Long Term Debt Ratio of Meghna Cement Ltd is 28. 8%, and Confidence Cement Ltd. Is 0%. So, according to industry average Confidence Cement is in the best position and Meghna Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Debt Management Ratio 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 Debt to Total Assets Confidence Cement Mills LTD 2008 Industry Average 0. 456 Long term Debt ratio 0 0. 288 0. 144 Debt to Equity 0. 01 3. 6 8 1. 845 Times Interest Earned -2. 0823 2. 79 0. 35385 Meghna Cement Mills LTD 0. 786 0. 621 Debt to Equity Ratio: The industry average of Debt/equity Ratio for the year 2008 is 184. 5%. Debt/equity Ratio of Meghna Cement Ltd is 368%, and Confidence Cement Ltd. is 1%. So, according to industry average Confidence Cement is in the best position Meghna Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Time Interest Earned: The industry average of Time Interest Earned for the year 2008 is 0. 5385. Time interest earned for Meghna Cement Ltd is 2. 79; Confidence Cement Ltd. is -2. 0823. So, according to industry average Meghna Cement is in the best position and Confidence Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Return on Assets: The industry average of Return on Assets for the year 2008 is 2%. Return on Assets of Meghna Cement Ltd is 5. 1%, and Confidence Cement Ltd. Is (2. 5%). So, according to industry average Meghna Cement is in the best position Confidence Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Return on Equity: The industry average of Return on equity for the year 2008 is 0. 26%. Return on Equity of Meghna Cement Ltd and Confidence Cement Ltd. Is (4. 5%). So, according to industry average Meghna Cement is in the best position Confidence Cement Ltd is in the worst position. Profitability Ratio 30. 00% 25. 00% 20. 00% 15. 00% 10. 00% 5. 0% 0. 00% -5. 00% -10. 00% Meghna Cement Confidence Cement industry Average Return on Asset 5. 10% -2. 50% 2% Return on Equity 23. 90% -4. 50% 26% 18 | P a g e References ? Intermediate Accounting ( 11th Edition),Donald E. Kieso ? The Analysis and Use of Financial Statements(3rd Edition),Gerald I. White ? Scott Besely & Eugene F. Brigham, â€Å"Essentials of Managerial Finance†, Thirteenth Edition, ? ? ? ? Thomson South-Western, Ohi o, 2006 www. bashundharagroup. com/mcml/ www. confidencegroupbd. com/cement/ www. dsebd. org www. wikipedia. com 19 | P a g e

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